Winch control mechanism



Dec. 5, 1950 A. w. EVANS WINCH CONTROL MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 30, 1947 INVENTOR.

ALFRED W. EVANS ATTORNEYS Dec. 5, 1950 A. w` EVANS 2,532,360

WINCH CONTROL MECHANISM Filed April 50, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 wwwllunllmllllmw INVENTOR.

ALFRED W. EVANS ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 5, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to control mechanism for Winches, and more particularly to such mechanisms for use with heavy duty Winches of the type disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 2,361,388.

Patent No. 2,361,388 relates to heavy duty winches which include high and low speed drives, with the cable drum being bodily shiftable to secure selective engagement with said high and low speed drives. In this` patent, a lever is employed to accomplish the shifting of the cable drum, the

lever being connected to the end of the cable drum shaft. It was found that this manner of shifting the drum was not suitable when the Winch was installed upon extremely heavy equipment, such as motor cranes, etc.` For such installations, a smoother operating mechanism which can be remotely controlled, is desirable.

The object of the present invention is to provide such control mechanism, wherein the control may be either automatic and remotely positioned, or manual and controlled at the winch.

Another object of the invention is to provide winch shifting means containing power multiplication for ease in shifting under heavy load, the parts being arranged to obtain a high degree of smoothness and eiciency in operation.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred and practical embodiment of the invention, when taken in conjunction with the drawings which accompany, and form a part of, this specication.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of a power winch of the type shown in the above mentioned patent, with the device of the present invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a view of the opposite side of the winch;

Figure 3 is a vertical section through the winch with the present invention applied to the cable drum shaft;

Figure 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic section taken 0n the line 44 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a section through the control valve taken on the line 6--6 of Figure 1; and

Figures 7 and 8 are sections taken on the lines 'l-'l and 8 8, respectively, of Figure 6.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there has been shown enough of the winch disclosed in Patent No. 2,361,388 to illustrate the operative relation of the present invention to the winch, and the results to be obtained thereby.

Briefly, the winch comprises a pairof spaced 55 side plates I and 2, having mounted between them a flanged cable drum 3. Bolted to one liange of the drum is a ring gear Il, having external teeth 5, to mesh with spaced gears G and 'i constituting the low speed drive, and internal teeth 8, to mesh with a high speed gear 9. Gears G and 'l are mounted on shafts H3 and Il, which. carry on their respective outer ends gears l2 and i3 meshing with a drive gear M. The gear I4 is carried on a shaft I5. and receives power from a suitable source through a sprocket it and chain il, the sprocket IG being mounted on. the shaft l5. High speed gear E! is mounted upon a shaft i8 whichcarries on its outer end a gear IB positioned to be constantly in mesh with the gear I3, and, through the gear i3, receives its power from the drive shaft l5.

Cable drum 3 is mounted upon a central shaft 2i! which is housed in. bearings carried by the side plates l and Z. Eccentric disks 2l and 22 are mounted upon the ends of the shaft 2!! and are .iournaled in bearings 23 and 22d carried by the side plates. As clearly shown in Figures l, 2 and the shaft 20 is eccentrically mounted in the disks 2| and 22, and the disks are concentrically positioned for rotative movement within the bearings 23 and 2li. Rotation of the disks will cause the shaft and drum to move along an arcuate path so that the drum mayr be lifted to engage the external teeth 5 of the ring gear with the low speed gears 8 and l, or, the drum may be dropped to engage the internal teeth 8 of the ring gear with the high speed drive gear 9. All of the above is set out quite clearly and .in detail in the above mentioned patent.

The present invention concerns means for causing rotative movement of the eccentric disks 2l 22 and comprises mounting a segmental gear 25, having a toothed area tli, upon one of the eccentric disks. It is preferable to mount it upon the disk 2i so as to be on the opposite side of the machine from the driving gears. The gear 25 is mounted concentric to the disk 2| and, in order to space the gear 25 from the side plate, a spacer disk 2l is interposed between the segmental gear 25 and the disk 2i. It is preferred to employ a cover plate 28 in front of the segmental gear, the cover plate 23 being of greater diameter than the gear so as to extend beyond '"1 the gear around its entire periphery. The segmental gear 25, spacer 2l and cover plate 28 are.

all held to the eccentric disk 3i by means of bolts 29.

At a point spaced from the above described assembly, a bell crank lever 3B is pivotally mounted upon the side plate l. This bell crank comprises an operating arm 3l and an arm 52 having an arcuate outer edge provided with gear teeth 33, the gear teeth 33 being adapted to mesh with the teeth of the segmental gear 25. A spacing block is positioned between the bell crank 35 and the side plate to place the lever 3B in the same vertical plane with the segmental gear 25. It will be obvious that a rocking movement ci the lever 35 will cause rotative movement of the eccentric disk 2i and thereby cause the cable drum 3 to be raised into low speed position or lowered into high speed position. The cover plate 23 forms, in effect, an annular ilange beyond the teeth of segmental gear 25, and will hold the gear sector against movement to prevent disengagement of the gear sector and segmental gear.

Extending outward from the side plate l are ears 35 and 36, carrying adjustable stops 3l and 38. These stops are\arranged in the plane of the arm 5i of lever as is clearly shown in Figure 5, to limit the movement oi the arm in its forward and rearward travel. As the driving gears of the winch bec-orne worn, the stops 3l and 53 can be adjusted to increase the travel or" the arm 3l and thereby increase the movement of the cable drum 5 to insure positive and tight engagement of the teeth of the ring gear with the high and low speed drives,

When installed upon heavy equipment the Winch usually will be placed either at the front or the rear of the machine, and sometimes in both places, and should be under the direct control ci the operator who is usually seated in a cab, often at some distance from the position of the winch. Both manual and automatic means are provided for operating the lever 3Q. The lever 35 may be rocked manually, by an operator standing near the winch, by means of a handle 35 which is bolted to the bell crank 3U. The automatic control comprises a pneumatic cylinder 553 having a link 5l connected to its piston shaft 42, the link having its opposite end connected to the arm 5l of the bell crank Recprocatory movement of the piston will cause oscillation of the bell crank. Cylinder is a double acting one and has air lines i3 and l5 connected to its opposite ends, the air lines passing through a control valve l5 preferably located in the cab of the machine. The pipe it is also connected to the control valve and leads from an air reser voir fil. The air reservoir is kept under constant pressure from a source of air through a supply line 6.3 and feed valve de. The valve may be of any conventional type which, when turned to one position, will connect pipe 53 with the reservoir and will bleed the pipe i5 to atmosphere. This will cause the piston and cylinder [sil to move to the left as viewed in Figure 1, rocking the bell crank in a counter-clockwise direction and thereby causing clockwise rotation oi the eccentric disk 2l and movement of the drum 3 to cause engagement of the ring gear with the high speed drive. Movement ci the valve i5 to another position will connect the pipe ifi with the reservoir lil and bleed the pipe causn ing a reverse movement of all of the parts.

As mentioned above, any conventional type valve having the necessary ports will sufhce for valve 55. However, a typical valve is illustrated in Figures 6, 7 and 8 of the drawings. This valve comprises a housing 5&3, having a central circular bore to receive a valve body 5l, held in rotatable position within the housing by means of an upper ange 52 and a washer 53 which is fastened to the body by a bolt 54. An operating handle 55 is provided to turn the body within the housing. Pipes 43, 44 and 46 communicate with openings 55, 5l' and 58, respectively, the openings 55 and 58 being opposite one another, and the opening 5l being at right angles to the axis of openings 56 and 58 and the openings being in a common plane. The housing is provided with a fourth opening 59, which is oppositely positioned with respect to opening 5l but on a different plane from the openings 55, 5l and 55. The valve body is provided with two T-shaped ports 50 and 6|, one of the ports being turned degrees with respect to the other. The port 5E! is positioned within the body to lie in the same plane as the openings 56, 5'! and 58 of the housing, and the port 6I to lie in the plane of opening 59. Port 5l has an offset 52 leading upward to the plane of port 50. With the valve body turned to the position shown in Figures 6, 'l and 8, port El? will connect pipes i3 and so that air will flow into the right-hand end of cylinder (as viewed in Figure l), to move the winch into low gear. At the same time, port 5I and its extension 62 will connect pipe it with opening 55 Vto exhaust the left-hand side of cylinder 49 to atmosphere. When handle 55 is turned 90 degrees in a counter-clockwise direction, port 65 will connect pipes as and 45 to move the piston in the opposite direction, and extension 52 and port 5l will connect pipe 53 to atmosphere.

It will be noted that the valve may be left in either of its operative positions, thereby maintaining a constant pressure upon the cylinder to hold the lever arm 3| tightly in engagement with the respective stops 3'! and 38, and any leakage of air past the cylinders will be compensated for by additional air from the reservoir. With this arrangement there can be no possibility of the winch slipping out of gear. By bringing the valve body 5l to a position intermediate those described above, after the arm 3! has reached a point between the stops 37 and 38, all openings of ports Eil and 6l will be out of communication with the openings of the housing and the piston within the cylinder 40 will be held against further movement in either direction, and the winch will be held in a neutral position.

It will be obvious from the above that this structure will give the operator complete control over the Winch at all times, and that the harmonic motion employed in turning the cable drum shaft will insure ease and smoothness of operation.

Although in the above there has been described one practical embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that changes may be made from the precise structure shown without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, I claim:

1. In a winch gear shifting mechanism means to control the movement of an eccentrically mounted shaft comprising, a segmental gear concentric with and carried by the eccentric mounting of said shaft, a bell crank pivoted at a point remote from said shaft mounting and having one arm forming a gear sector to mesh with said segmental gear, fluid means to rock said bell crank, a cover plate of larger diameter than said segmental gear mounted concentrically to said gear to prevent lateral movement of said gear sector and disengagement of said segmental gear and gear sector, and adjustable stops positioned in s. the path of movement of said bell crank to limit its rocking movement in both directions.

2. In a Winch gear shifting mechanism means to control the movement of an eccentrically mounted shaft comprising, a segmental gear concentric with and carried by the eccentric mounting of said shaft, a bell crank pivoted at a point remote from saidshaft mounting and having one arm forming a gear sector to mesh with said segmental gear, a cover plate of larger diameter than said segmental gear mounted coucentrically to said gear to prevent lateral movement of said gear sector and disengagement of said segmental gear and gear sector, adjustable stops positioned in the path of movement of said bell crank to limit its rocking movement in both directions, a cylinder and piston, said piston being connected to said gear sector, a source of air supply, air lines from said source of supply connected to both ends of said cylinder, and a valve having port openings which may be positioned to; admit air to one end of the cylinder and exhaust 6 air from the other` end, admit air to-the second end and exhaust air from the first end, cut off air admission and exhaust from both ends of said cylinder.

ALFRED W. EVAN'S.-

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patenti 

